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TWN
Info Service on Intellectual Property Issues (Feb22/02) Civil Society Open Letter to the WTO Director General 16 February 2022 Available at https://ourworldisnotforsale.net/2022/L_WTO_2022-02-16.pdf Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Ms
Anabel González Dear Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and Ms. González, COVID-19 has disrupted societies, wreaked economic havoc, and affected livelihoods, with developing and least developed countries disproportionately impacted. UNCTAD has highlighted that the damage from the COVID-19 crisis has exceeded that of the Global Financial Crisis in most parts of the global economy, but has been particularly draining on the developing world. The crisis has been exacerbated and continues to adversely affect many developing and least developed countries as promises of solidarity and collaboration towards equitable access to vaccines, treatments and tests have mostly failed to materialise. We join co-sponsors of the TRIPS Waiver proposal and other developing countries in stressing that for a WTO response to the pandemic to be credible, it must deliver a bold and meaningful outcome on the TRIPS waiver proposal and address concerns about the impact of intellectual property on timely and affordable access to medical products. In this letter, we would like to highlight some key aspects that should guide consultations and negotiations on this matter to deliver a meaningful outcome. The main purpose of the waiver proposal is the prevention, treatment and containment of COVID-19 and expanded and diversified supply, affordable prices, and more equitable access of the full range of medical products needed to achieve those goals. Of particular importance are diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. Some WTO Members have supported an IP waiver, albeit only for vaccines. However domestically, these same Members have emphasized the significance of testing and treatment in controlling COVID-19 infections. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the President of the USA and NIAID Director has stated that “New antivirals that prevent serious COVID-19 illness and death, especially oral drugs that could be taken at home early in the course of disease, would be powerful tools for battling the pandemic and saving lives,” while Dr. David Kessler, Chief Science Officer for the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Response said “An easily administered oral antiviral drug would be an important part of our therapeutic arsenal that would complement the great success of our vaccine efforts.”[1] Testing and access to diagnostics, especially antigen rapid tests is essential to peoples’ knowledge of their health status, compliance with public health measures, connection to treatment and care, and surveillance. The EU COVID-19 therapeutic strategy also states, “vaccines will not eliminate the disease overnight and therapeutics will still be needed for patients in hospitals and at home, including people suffering from ‘long COVID’ (the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection). For these reasons, therapeutics will continue to play a significant role in the response to COVID-19, complementing the successful EU strategy for COVID-19 vaccines.”[2] Notably WHO’s COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan has underlined the importance of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for an effective COVID-19 response.[3] For these reasons, any credible waiver outcome must also equally cover the medical products essential to control COVID-19 and especially vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, including their materials and components. Addressing access to therapeutics and diagnostics must not be delayed. It has previously been reported that some Members, such as the EU, oppose a waiver of IP barriers and instead are focused on the notion of compulsory licensing of patents only, especially in the context of Article 31bis mechanism (CL for exports).[4] In addition, reportedly, some Members, including the EU in particular, are unwilling to consider unconditional waivers of other provisions such as Article 31(f), Article 28.1, Article 39, and Part III of TRIPS (enforcement requirements.)[5] This position of the EU and others is absolutely unjustified and should not be accepted. We recall that even prior to the pandemic, the challenges of using compulsory licensing mechanism for exports (Articles 31(f) and 31bis) and the ineffectiveness to deliver equitable access were well-known.[6] In addition, these CL provisions are only relevant to patents and do nothing to address other intellectual property barriers. For example, information related to manufacturing and quality control processes are often claimed by industry as trade secrets, even when this information bears clear public interests to boost the diversification and scale of production. As such, a waiver of Article 39 of TRIPS on “Protection of Undisclosed Information” is absolutely essential and in the public interest. Further as elaborated in co-sponsors document IP/C/W/684, copyright and industrial designs may also create obstacles for production and supply, and so these concerns also have to be addressed. While the specific details of the current consultations/negotiations are not public, we would like to stress that any Waiver outcome has to create a clear pathway that provides potential manufacturers the full freedom to operate — to manufacture, to import and export, and to commercialize needed COVID-19-related medical products — without having to deal with procedural and legal IP requirements on a product-by-product basis. The waiver decision should also accord governments policy space to implement measures necessary to facilitate production, import and export of medical products and their components. Further the duration for the waiver outcome should reflect the current unpredictable complex situation with respect to COVID-19. This includes the possibility of new, more lethal variants, uncertainty over the duration of vaccine immunity, vaccine effectiveness against new variants and the need to motivate diversified production and expand supply options especially in developing and least developed countries. In this regard, we support the proposal of TRIPS waiver co-sponsors in IP/C/W/669/Rev.1. The WTO should also learn from the mistakes of its past. The cumbersome requirements of the Article 31bis mechanism have resulted in an inflexible and unwieldy mechanism, unsuitable for promptly addressing urgent challenges of access. Hence, attaching conditions to the TRIPS waiver outcome under the pretext of transparency and that complicates the application of the waiver or limits its use to some Members will only further undermine the already rather fragile credibility of the WTO. The time for excuses is over. Billions of people around the world are waiting for the WTO to deliver a bold outcome on the TRIPS waiver proposal that will effectively and concretely contribute to enabling production in and expanding supply options towards realizing equitable access which is the key to socio-economic recovery. Signatories Global 1. ACP Civil Society Forum 2. Amnesty International 3. Bread for the World 4. Building and Wood Worker’s International (BWI) 5. Center for Economic and Social Rights 6. Civil Society Financing for Development Group 7. Corporate Accountability 8. Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) 9. Education International 10. Feminists for a People’s Vaccine, Global South 11. Global Policy Forum 12. Health Action International (HAI) 13. Health Global Access Project (Health GAP) 14. Health Poverty Action 15. International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) 16. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) 17. International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF) 18. IT for Change 19. LDC WATCH 20. Médecins du Monde International Network 21. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign 22. Open Knowledge Foundation 23. Oxfam 24. Peoples’ Health Movement (PHM) 25. People’s Vaccine Alliance (PVA) 26. Public Services International (PSI) 27. Regions Refocus 28. Social Watch 29. Society for International Development 30. Third World Network (TWN) 31. Trócaire 32. Women in Migration Network (WIMN) 33. Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development Regional 34. African Alliance 35. AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa 36. Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disability 37. Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) 38. Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) 39. Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development 40. Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+) 41. Focus on the Global South 42. Gramya Resource Centre for Women 43. Health Action International Asia Pacific 44. Project Organizing Development and Education 45. Southern African Programme On Access to Medicines and Diagnostics (SAPAM) 46. Women In Development Europe+ 47. Yolse, Santé Publique et Innovation National 48. Access to Medicines Ireland 49. Access to Medicines Research Group, China 50. Africa Development Interchange Network (ADIN), Cameroon 51. Africa Japan Forum, Japan 52. Africa Young Positives Network, Uganda 53. AIDS Access Foundation, Thailand 54. All India Drug Action Network, India 55. All Nepal Peasants Federation 56. Alternative Budget Initiative- Health Cluster, Philippines 57. Ashar Alo Society (AAS), Bangladesh 58. Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Thailand 59. Asian Health Institute (AHI), Japan 60. Asociacion Mujeres Emprendedoras de Alta Verapaz, Guatemala 61. Associação Brasileira de Saúde Bucal Coletiva, Brazil 62. Association For Promotion Sustainable Development, India 63. Association for Proper Internet Governance, Switzerland 64. Attac Norway 65. Australian Fair trade and Investment Network, Australia 66. Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha, Bangladesh 67. Bisan Center for Research and Development, Palestine 68. Both ENDS, Netherlands 69. Brot für die Welt, Germany 70. Bureau Pour la Croissance Intégrale et la Dignité de l’Enfant, Democratic Republic of Congo 71. CADIRE Cameroon Association, Cameroon 72. Campaign for Access to Medicines, Devices and Diagnostics, India 73. Campaign for Affordable Trastuzumab, India 74. Campaign for the Welfare state, Norway 75. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canada 76. Center for Health Human Rights and Development, Uganda 77. Centre for Social Sciences Research and Action, Lebanon 78. Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), Malawi 79. Centre National de Coopération au Développement (CNCD-11.11.11), Belgium 80. Changemaker Norway 81. Child Way Uganda (CWay-Ug) 82. Climate Watch Thailand 83. Coalizione Italiana Libertà e Diritti civili, Italy 84. COAST Foundation, Bangladesh 85. Collectif Brevets sur les vaccins anti-covid, stop. Réquisition, France 86. Community Forum (COFO), Malawi 87. Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) – Zimbabwe 88. Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia 89. Delhi network of positive people, India 90. DIGNIDAD Movement, Philippines 91. Drug Action Forum-Karnataka, India 92. Drug System Monitoring and Development Center, Thailand 93. DUKINGIRE ISI YACU, Burundi 94. Econews Africa, Kenya 95. EKOTA, Bangladesh 96. Ensemble à Gauche (EàG), Switzerland 97. Environics Trust, India 98. Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia, Mexico 99. Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh (EquityBD), Bangladesh 100. Fairwatch Italy, Italy 101. Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR), United States 102. Frente Nacional por la Salud de los Pueblos del Ecuador (FNSPE), Ecuador 103. FTA Watch, Thailand 104. Fundación Grupo Efecto Positivo, Argentina 105. Fundacion para estudio e investigación de la Mujer, Argentina 106. Gandhi Development Trust, South Africa 107. Global Humanitarian Progress GHP Corp, Colombia 108. Global Justice Now, United Kingdom 109. Governance Links, Tanzania 110. Grupo de Incentivo à Vida, Brazil 111. Handelskampanjen, Norway 112. Heinrich Boell Foundation, Germany 113. HIV Legal Network, Canada 114. IFARMA Foundation, Colombia 115. Indonesia AIDS Coalition, Indonesia 116. Indonesia for Global Justice, Indonesia 117. Initiative for Health & Equity in Society, India 118. Initiative for Social and Economic Rights, Uganda 119. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Unites States 120. IPLeft, South Korea 121. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, Malaysia 122. It’s Our Future, New Zealand 123. Jamma Children Foundation, Gambia 124. Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network – Africa, Kenya 125. Just Treatment, United Kingdom 126. Kamukunji Paralegal Trust (KAPLET), Kenya 127. Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS, Kenya 128. Kikandwa Environmental Association, Uganda 129. Korean Pharmacists for Democratic society, South Korea 130. Krishna Rabilall foundation, South Africa 131. Labor Education and Research Network, Philippines 132. Lebanese Union for persons with physical disability, Lebanon 133. Life Concern, Malawi 134. Low Cost Standard Therapeutics, India 135. Madhira Institute, Kenya 136. Malaysian Women’s Action for Tobacco Control and Health (MyWATCH), Malaysia 137. Medical Action Group, Philippines 138. Medico International, Germany 139. Misión Salud, Colombia 140. Naripokkho, Bangladesh 141. National Alliance for Right to Food, Nepal 142. National Dalit and Landless Peasants Organisation, Nepal 143. Nepal Women Peasants Association 144. Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, United States 145. NGO Gender Coordination Network, Malawi 146. NGOs Platform of Saida, Lebanon 147. Nigerian Women Agro Allied Farmers Assoc, Nigeria 148. Non-communicable Diseases Alliance, Kenya 149. Observátorio do ciCidadão para saúde, Mozambique 150. Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC), Japan 151. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Pakistan 152. Parlement des Jeunes Leaders de la Société Civile Guinéenne, Guinea 153. Patient and Community Welfare Foundation of Malawi 154. People’s Health Movement, Canada 155. People’s Health Movement Nepal 156. People’s Health Movement South Africa 157. People’s Health Movement, Zambia 158. People’s Health Movement – Japan Circle, Japan 159. People’s Health Institute, South Korea 160. People’s Health Organization, South Korea 161. Positive Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+), Malaysia 162. Public Citizen, United States 163. Public Eye, Switzerland 164. Research and Support Center for Development Alternatives – Indian Ocean, Madagascar 165. Réseau québécois pour une mondialisation inclusive (RQMI) :, Canada 166. Rethink Trade, United States 167. Right to Health Action, United States 168. Roots for Equity, Pakistan 169. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia), Malaysia 170. Salud por Derecho, Spain 171. Sama Resource Group for Women and Health, India 172. SEATINI, Uganda 173. Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), Philippines 174. Sisters of Charity Federation, United States 175. Slums and Rural Health Initiative-Rwanda 176. Social Watch Benin 177. Social Watch Philippines 178. SODECA, Kenya 179. Solidarité Agissante pour le Développement Familial (SADF), Democratic Republic of Congo 180. South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network, South Sudan 181. Space Allies, Japan 182. SPECTRA, Rwanda 183. Spire, Norway 184. Spotlight Center, Lebanon 185. TEDIC, Paraguay 186. Temple of Understanding, USA 187. The Gender Studies Centre, Sudan 188. The Peninsula Foundation, India 189. Trade Justice Education Fund, United States 190. Trade Justice Network, Canada 191. Treatment Action Group, Unites States 192. UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), Bangladesh 193. Uganda National Health Users/ Consumer’s Organisation, Uganda 194. Unis pour l’Education SocioEnvironnemetale de la Femme en sigle UESEF, Democratic Republic of Congo 195. Veille Citoyenne Togo 196. Vietnam Network of People living with HIV (VNP+), Vietnam 197. Viva Salud, Belgium 198. War on Want, United Kingdom 199. WomanHealth Philippines 200. Women’s Coalition Against Cancer (WOCACA), Malawi 201. World Vision Deutschland e.V., Germany 202. Youth Foundation of Bangladesh [1]
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/06/17/biden-administration [2]
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/communication- [3] https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-WHE-2021.02 [6]
https://msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/Access/
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